<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Going Home by Anny_Rudolph</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084806">Going Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anny_Rudolph/pseuds/Anny_Rudolph'>Anny_Rudolph</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kayllish Shepard [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:15:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,566</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anny_Rudolph/pseuds/Anny_Rudolph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Normandy crew fights to get back home, and to keep it together until they do. For Ashley, it meant taking care of her crewmates. For Jeff, it meant learning to deal with grief. For Liara, it meant hanging onto hope.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kayllish Shepard [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/828120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Going Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sooo, here I am, back after the Game Awards. Yeah.</p>
<p>If I can manage to keep my drive going, this will be a series with maybe ending at blue babies not being babies anymore. Don't know, we'll see.</p>
<p>In any case, this was not beta'ed, so all mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Liara sighed, looking out of the window of her bedroom. After that first contact with Hackett in Terra Nova, their comms went down again and nothing that herself or Sam did managed to bring it back. In the end, they finally found out that the flaw was actually in the relay systems. Her theory is that something happened to systems after the crucible fired, and it was making it difficult for long range comms to work - theory that was proven to her with the few Shadow Broker’s reports she got.<br/>She felt useless right now. Without her frequent reports, and not being able to help with anything in the maintenance of the ship due to her injuries, the asari had nothing to do but worry. She tried to not dwell on it, though - as Javik had said, she shouldn’t give in to despair.<br/>But the thought of Shepard dead once more always found its way to her mind, and she couldn’t help but seek isolation from the rest of the crew when it came. She curled up in her chair, trying to hold back the tears, when she heard the voice behind her.<br/>“I was coming to ask how you’re doing, but… I don’t think I need an answer.” Liara turned quickly, looking at Ashley as she entered her room. The human kneeled beside her, putting her arm around Liara’s shoulders. “You thinking about skipper?”<br/>Liara took some time before answering, but nodded.<br/>“I… I know I shouldn’t let this get to me. We still have too much to do, too many people to help.” She dried her tears, or tried to, only so more could replace them. “But every time I think that... I can’t lose her again, Ash. I can’t. Without her…”<br/>“Don’t you dare say it is not worth it, Liara.” Ashley said, startling Liara. “You know that’s not true. Shepard taught us that. So, even in the worst case, we should at least honour her and live, don’t you think?”<br/>“I’m not strong enough.” The shadow broker whispered. Ashley hugged her, and Liara held on to the human, shaking with tears.<br/>“Maybe not, when you’re alone. But you’re not. You have us, Liara, every single one from this collection of misfits that is the Normandy crew. We’re family, and you cut us off once. We not about to let you do that again.” She pushed Liara away a bit, looking at her with a grimace. “Besides, me, Tali and Garrus are oathbound to skipper to look after you when she’s not here. You might think I’m joking, but she threatened to dock our pays if we didn’t. I have it recorded.”<br/>Liara laughed a bit, recognizing the tactics her friend was using, and Ashley smiled.<br/>“I’m sorry I’m this mess. I just... Wish I had something more to do other than wait. At least then I would control my thoughts better.”<br/>The human snorted. “Don’t I know this feeling. You think that commanding a ship would leave you without time to think. Now I know why she does the rounds on us.”<br/>“I had to make Glyph lock the doors on her so I could get some work done.”<br/>“I had a feeling that she spent most of her time bugging you.” Ashley got up, offering her hand to Liara. “Come on. Half of the crew is in the Port Observation Deck, drinking and telling stories. We might as well pass the time together instead of just letting our minds go wild with worry.”<br/>The asari took a second, at first looking at the hand Ashley offered, but then drying her tears and taking the hand. She was about to say something when they could hear the voice of Joker on the comms.<br/>“Uh… Commander, I think you’ll want to see this.”<br/>Ashley and Liara looked at each other, intrigued, but quickly started to make their way to the cockpit. The first thing they could see when getting out of the elevator was that a good portion of the crew was there, trying to catch a glimpse of what was out of the window. Ashley cleared a path, and as soon as both of them got behind Joker, the vision that stopped the rest of the crew was open to them.<br/>There, right in front of their eyes, lay a heavily damaged relay, its pieces floating around it, its core still functioning, but barely holding together. From what they could see, a dozen or so ships were also around the relay, either in the same situation as them, or trying to get close enough to repair it.<br/>“Well. That explains a lot.” Said Traynor, right behind Liara. <br/>“Yeah, but it also kinda fucks us up.” Said Joker. “No way in hell we have the structural integrity to handle an almost 3 months trip back to Earth. Or the fuel.” Joker suddenly stopped talking, feeling what he assumed was Liara’s hands gripping the back of his chair. Thankfully, they were pinged by another ship before anyone could say anything.<br/>“This is captain Rael’Nuuma vas Saratoga to Normandy SR-2, requesting an update on the Hammer. I repeat, Saratoga to Normandy SR-2, do you copy?”<br/>Ashley signaled Joker to answer, and so he did.<br/>“This is Normandy SR-2. We read you, Saratoga.”<br/>There was a huge sigh of relief coming from the comms. “Is it true? Did it work?”<br/>“We received confirmation of the end of the war four hours ago, standard time. The galaxy is now reaper free.” Said Joker. There were little sounds of commemoration on the comm, but soon it faded again. “Although I think right now that should be the least of our worries.”<br/>“Agreed.” Answered Rael. “We saw a ship going through the relay before it became unstable, but using it apparently triggered the instability. I don’t think any of us have the structural integrity or the courage to go through it in this state.” Joker snorted. “But we do have engineers on board, around 100 hands that worked on the Crucible. Would be more if the geth platforms were responsive, but since the wave…”<br/>Joker became silent, so Ashley took command.<br/>“Saratoga, this is Specter Ashley Williams, acting captain of the Normandy. We believe the geth were a casualty of the activation of the Crucible. However, we also have a couple of able engineers on board, willing to assist you in the repair of the relay.”<br/>“Copy that, Specter. We are devising a plan as we speak. May I ask… Is Admiral Tali’Zorah on board?”<br/>“She is. Alive and well, captain.”<br/>“Keelah… Thank the ancestors.”<br/>Suddenly, there were a couple more pings on the comms. Two, four… In a couple of seconds, they had almost 50 pings, all of them of ships or nearby stations offering their services to help with the repairs. Ashley looked sideways at Liara, and could see the asari frantically typing on her omnitool, which made the human smile. Rael’Nuuma could be the one coordinating the engineers, but now repairing this relay was definitely a Shadow Broker operation.<br/>‘This will work’ Ash thought. They would get back to Earth - get back home.</p>
<p>Liara overlooked the repairs from the Normandy cockpit. Currently, they had over 250 engineers working with the relay, while their ships orbited the massive construct. She typed on her omni-tool, organizing the shipment of more resources from a nearby planet, when Joker got back to his seat. She couldn’t help but notice the look he was giving her.<br/>“What is it, Jeff?” She asked, with a sigh.<br/>Joker shrugged, and stayed a few seconds in silence. The asari was almost getting back to her work when he finally spoke up.<br/>“How did you handle it?” Liara looked up, confused, and he explained. “After… Well. After. You didn’t come back, so… How did you handle it?”<br/>It took a moment for her to understand what he was asking, and her eyes immediately fell into the empty chair on the other side of the pilot. She lowered her omni-tool, giving him her full attention.<br/>“To be honest, I didn’t. I spent two years of my life obsessing over her, over what I had to do to bring her back. Without her… Well. I couldn’t let myself be over the Commander. And her job wasn’t finished - we were the few who knew of what was to come, and even with warning, no one was doing a thing to prevent it.” She stopped for a moment. “I’m not the best to tell you how to deal with gone loved ones, Jeff, because I’m still learning myself. But… Keeping busy helps. Finding something to put your energy into.”<br/>“Easy for you to say.” He complained. “You’re not stuck with these.” He gestured to his crutches. “The only thing I’m good at is flying, and I can’t even do that right now. Not till this glowing tincan is fixed.” He pointed to the relay, pissed off, but sighed. He put his face in his hands, massaging his eyes, before coming back to the conversation. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault she isn’t here, I know that.”<br/>“For what is worth, Jeff… We brought Shepard from the dead once. We can bring EDI back too. We just need to get back to the Crucible, and figure out what happened. Kay once said she had faith in us to rebuild if anything happened - so I won’t let her faith go to waste.” She patted his shoulder before going back to her comms, but he could hear the unasked question. With a deep breath, he answered for himself.<br/>“How can I help, then, Shadowbroker?” He asked Liara, and she could see a renewed strength in his gaze. She smiled, and, with a gesture from the asari, Joker’s omni-tool pinged.</p>
<p>“So, is this it?” Asked Garrus, standing in the middle of the crew that was currently watching everything from the cockpit. <br/>“This is not just anything.” Said Tali, hitting him in the arm with the back of her hand. “It took us over two weeks to figure everything out, and another half one to finally get to the point of turning it back on.”<br/>“I know, it’s just… You sure this is gonna work?” <br/>“Are you doubting my engineering skills, Garrus?” She asked, her tone acid. He quickly made a no gesture with his head, and Tali grinned. “Heh, thought not. In any case, what is the status over there, Rael?”<br/>“Just need to jumpstart the battery and turn on the generator, Admiral.” Rael’Numa’s voice said over the comms. “Then we should be good to go.”<br/>“Ok, then.” Said Ashley. “Let’s turn this baby on.”<br/>“Roger that, Commander.” He said. They could hear the sound of commands being given on the other side, and a shuffle of people going to their positions. <br/>It was somewhat anticlimactic. All it took were some zapping sounds from the comms, a little bit of static, and the sound of an activating lever. Weeks of work for this single moment. And, in a fraction of a second, the darkness in front of them lights up with the mass relay working once more.<br/>The silence exploded in cheers, even over the comms with the other ships. The Normandy was in ecstasy, until Ashley spoke up.<br/>“Ok, hold your horses, everyone. Now comes the real test - Saratoga, do you copy?”<br/>“Copy, Normandy.” Said Rael. “The relay is ready for testing - we’re ready whenever you are, Commander.”<br/>“Then let’s get our asses back home.” She said. “Joker, get us to Earth.”<br/>“Safe travels and Keelah Se’lai.” Said Rael, before Joker cut the comms.<br/>The pilot rubbed his hands together with a grin. “Everyone might want to hang on to something. I’mma get us there in record time.”<br/>“Try to not kill the tripulation of the saviours of the galaxy, Joker.” Said Sam, getting closer to a wall. Joker laughed while the relay charged.<br/>“I make no promises.” He said, and with a single push, they went in.<br/>It wasn’t as smooth as it usually was - they really ended up having to hang on, with some of them falling to the floor. However, Liara and Ashley held on Joker’s chair, gripping it with such ferocity that their knuckles were white.<br/>And, in a second, everything was still.<br/>In front of them, the familiar view for the humans of the outer solar system, with Pluto just in view. The Sun and Earth were just tiny dots on the horizon, but they knew it was there. They were, finally, home.<br/>“Just a little bit more now.” Said Liara. “We’re at the end of the battle.”<br/>Ashley grinned, and was going to answer that, but Joker cut her off.<br/>“Might be ending sooner than you think.” He said. “There’s a request from Earth in the comms.”<br/>“Patch it through, Joker.” Said Ashley.<br/>It took a moment for the connection to be stable, but they could all hear the voice coming from the other side.<br/>“This is Jack to the Normandy. Normandy, are you there?”<br/>“Jack!” Said Liara, eager for news. She was still gripping Joker’s chair, and Ashley put her hand on top of hers in a show of support.  <br/>“Thank fuck, is that you, Blue? I’ve been trying to contact you all for fucking knows how long! Are you all still alive, then?”<br/>“We are, Jack.” Said Garrus, coming behind Liara and putting in hand in her back for support. “A few cuts and bruises, but alive, mostly.”<br/>“Same thing on this end of things.” She said. “Although the Queen of Girl scouts is a bit more banged up than everyone.”<br/>“Is this really how you planned on telling them, Jack?” Came Miranda’s voice. They could hear Jack’s laugh, and a fight for taking over the call. Then, Miranda’s voice became clearer.<br/>“I’m taking over this idiot.”<br/>“Miranda?” Asked Liara, confused. “Did Jack mean…?”<br/>“Yes, Liara.” She said, and they could hear the smile in her voice. “Shepard is alive, and recovering as we speak. She’s still asleep at the moment, but… She will make it.”<br/>There was silence in the cockpit, but for Liara, all she could hear was the shushing sound of her heartbeat.<br/>Shepard was alive.<br/>Her Kayllish was alive.<br/>Thank the Goddess.<br/>It took a second for her sensations to come back, and then she could feel a couple of things. First, the tears coming down her face. Second, the explosive sound of the crew cheering all around her. And third, the sensation of arms holding her up, three pairs to be exact. Ashley, Garrus and Tali were all hugging her, and every single one of them were crying in relief. She laughed a bit, noticing the pile they were making, which made them all laugh in return. Liara could faintly hear Joker in the background, choked with emotion.<br/>“I don’t think any of us are in condition to keep talking right now, Miranda. We’re on route to Earth, ETA 4 hours.”<br/>“Roger that. We’re at the Saint Bartholomeus Hospital in London, you should be able to land outside of the city.”<br/>“Copy that. Normandy out.” He looked back to the pile of huggers behind him, that was only growing and growing, and didn’t even have the heart to say anything. He adjusted his cap and turned his attention back to the controllers in front of him. “Let’s go home.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>